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Engaging the Future

Draft Report of the Task Force on Strategic Planning

June 22, 2006

12. Public Investment and Accountability

Western receives its operating funds primarily from Provincial government grants and
tuition. The Provincial government, in its May 2005 budget, unveiled its Reaching
Higher plan for postsecondary education following the review and recommendations
of the Hon. Bob Rae. Universities and colleges were established as a very high priority
for government spending.

Mr. Rae recognized the need for public accountability for the use of increased public
funding but, in doing so, he also recognized the fundamental importance of institutional
autonomy and diversity. The challenge for Ontario's universities is therefore to respond
to the call for accountability in a way that respects our local culture, mission, values,
priorities, and governance. The terms of this "contract" are set out in the Rae Report:

With respect to the design of the system, my recommendations reflect the need to
reconcile three objectives: institutional independence and diversity, the need for
co-ordination and clearer pathways for student, and accountability to the public
to ensure that money is being spent wisely. All three principles are important. A
strongly centralized approach, such as we have seen in the past, will not work well
in the years ahead. Autonomous, flexible institutions working within a framework
of public accountability is a better direction.

The challenge for
Ontario's universities
is therefore to
respond to the call for
accountability in a
way that respects our
local culture, mission,
values, priorities, and
governance.

The first building blocks in Western's public accountability
are this Strategic Plan and its predecessors in 1995 and
2001, developed with representation by all the University's
major constituencies, approved by our Senate and Board,
and made readily available to the public.

The second element of our accountability is the annual
publication of a Performance and Activity Indicators
report, as we first did in April 2005, presenting a series
of comparative analyses that measured our success in
attaining University priorities. In demonstrating to the
public and to government that we have set measurable objectives and consistently
assess our progress in a reliable manner, we are answering directly our own needs
for appropriate institutional measurement and the public need for transparency in
the investment of resources. Our Indicators include results from three well-accepted
surveys based in the US: the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE); the
Graduate and Professional Student Survey (GPSS); and the Consortium for Student
Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE).

The third element is the public availability of our annual Operating and Capital Budget,
debated by Senate and approved by the Board of Governors, and of our audited financial
statements. We seek in our Budget to give a clear account our current spending and
future plans with considerable detail for the interested reader.

Western is already actively engaged in public accountability and indeed is a leader in
this respect. We believe accountability is a direct correlative of our prized institutional
autonomy and transparency of decision-making processes.

In the March 2006 Ontario Budget, the province announced the impending appointment
of a Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), to monitor quality in
postsecondary education This fourth accountability mechanism offers the potential for
appropriate, standardized, and reliable measurement of significant areas of institutional
performance. The measures should be used by individual institutions to improve
performance within the context of their own distinct institutional missions. HEQCO
should not use the measures to create institutional rankings or league tables, which so
often compare apples and oranges and do not lead to improved performance. Each
university should be seeking to demonstrate progress against its own priorities.

The collective ability of Ontario's universities to secure greater public support in the future
will depend upon our willingness to measure our local progress in quality improvement.
The additional public investments in the government's Reaching Higher plan, coupled
with recently-announced tuition regulations, will bring Ontario's universities closer
to the national per-student funding level, but will still fall considerably short of Mr
Rae's 'stretch target' of bringing Ontario's universities closer to our counterparts in the
United States. Our success in reaching this target will be in large measure determined
by our ability to demonstrate accountability and quality improvement.

Our Commitments:

Western strongly supports effective accountability in the context of
institutional autonomy and transparency of decision-making processes; all
three elements are essential for excellence in a publicly funded academic
institution. We will:

12.1 - Make broadly known the accountability measures already part of our
University culture: the community involvement in strategic planning, and
the publication of accountability indicators, institutional budget information,
student course and instructor evaluations, and surveys of students, faculty,
staff, and the London community.

12.2 - Promote broad awareness of acknowledged measures of academic quality:
undergraduate and Ontario Council on Graduate Studies program reviews;
cyclical external peer reviews of Departments, Schools, and Faculties;
accreditation of professional programs; Ontario Council of Academic
Vice-Presidents undergraduate and graduate degree expectations.

12.3 - Urge the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario to approach university
accountability in a manner that supports institutional diversity and autonomy,
and to use the best of existing measures of university quality and performance, including the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE); the Graduate
and Professional Student Survey (GPSS); and the Consortium for Student
Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE).